1. New Slang- The Shins
2. Walking With A Ghost- Tegan & Sara
3. All That I've Got- The Used
4. Mr. Brightside- The Killers
5. Dark of the Matinee- Franz Ferdinand
6. Evil- Interpol
7. Stop The World- The Riddlin' Kids
8. Blood Red Summer- Coheed & Cambria
9. The World at Large- Modest Mouse
10. I Predict A Riot- Kaiser Chiefs
Rhapsody Playlist Adds:
Chocolate- Snow Patrol
Helena- My Chemical Romance
Drive Away- Gratitude
The show opens this week, not with an eyeball, but a long shot of Sayid sitting Solitary on the beach. The camera closes in and we can see that he is studying the photo of the woman Claire returned to him when she found his things. He flips it over and reads something on the back. I can't translate- it looks like a bunch of 3's to me. He looks away with a pained expression but then notices something in the sand not far away. Sayid gets up to investigate and discovers a thick, coiled cable coming from out of the ocean and into the jungle. He picks it up and follows it inland.
Back at the crashsite, Jack is tending to Sawyer's knife wound, but is not getting much appreciation. Sawyer alleges that Jack is just helping him because he feels guilty about the torture. Jack says no one else wants anything to do with him. Sawyer implies that Kate does, which makes Jack get up and leave. Speaking of Kate, she is staring down the length of the beach. Jack approaches and learns that she is awaiting Sayid's return and is worried about him. Jack assures her that he is a trained soldier (hopefully there's not too many untrained soldiers out there) and he will come back when he has found what he's looking for. That's Jack's leadership style- repeat what smarter people have told you in the past. Kate thinks it's not that simple since Sayid left the camp out of shame.
Back in the jungle, Sayid finds a tripwire and, being a trained soldier, knows enough to step over it very carefully. Unfortunately, he wasn't trained well enough to notice the rest of the trap which he steps onto and soon finds himself hanging upside down. He swings head first into a tree and gets pierced in the leg by a sharp stick. He tries his best to escape, but he is definitely stuck. Cue creepy LOST title screen.
Night has fallen and Sayid is still just hanging around mumbling to himself. Or more likely praying, but again, I don't translate. He hears someone coming- someone who cuts him down. As he lies groggy from the fall, he can half make out a figure approaching him, but he passes out before he can tell who it is.
Over at the caves, Jack and Sun are medically tending to an extra when some arguing distracts the doctor. Hurley tells him that people are being people- arguing over stupid stuff- like the dog drinking their water, which doesn't sound all that stupid to me, but I don't really like dogs. Hold the phone now! The extra has lines. They pay extra for that, you know. This schmo is concerned that his simple breakout of hives could be the start of some deadly tropical disease. See, wearing glasses doesn't always mean you're smart. Hurley laughs at Jack's advice to the guy to just relax. He thinks everyone is too tense and they need to have something to do. Jack dismisses this notion and is content just to have everyone survive.
Sayid slowly comes to underneath a working light bulb as a strange voice asks him where Alex is in several languages. He realizes he is strapped down and cannot move. When he answers that he doesn't know any Alex, a dark figure moves quickly to throw a switch and give him some unneeded shock therapy.
Sayid takes his mind off the pain by flashing back to when he was a soldier in Iraq. He is in the midst of torturing someone to get them to admit to a bombing. The guy only pukes as his answer. Outside, Sayid tells his superior officer that the guy doesn't know anything. But it turns out, that wasn't the point- Sayid handled himself very well and is going to be reassigned to Intelligence, which is a big promotion from Stupidity. Superior officer tells Sayid not to call him sir when it's just the two of them, then starts blabbering about some military stuff that Sayid doesn't hear because the dramatic music is playing too loudly as the girl from his future photo is being led by as a prisoner.
Back in the present, Locke and friend return from some night hunting with a bunch of bags that fell from the plane. It's meet the extras day on LOST- Locke's buddy with hunting experience is named Ethan. Hurley tells them he will look through the stuff for anything useful. Walt goes over to Locke and asks if he can come hunting too, but Michael catches him and shoots that notion right down. I doubt Locke would have said yes to that anyway. Hurley opens a bag and is stunned by the content. We're not allowed to see what it is yet, though.
Back in TasteYourOwnMedicine Town, Sayid continues to be tortured and begs for it to stop. He recaps the major plot points of the previous episodes- when he gets to the part about the French woman's transmission, his female captor responds in French. She finally emerges from the shadows to reveal her surprise that it has been sixteen years since she got there. She is also surprised that Sayid heard the distress call and whacks him on the head for it.
It takes Sayid an entire commercial break to wake up. He sees a jacket and reads the name on the back- Rousseau. She wants to know how he knew her name, then learns his by reading the envelope his pictures were in. Sayid mentions that her battery-powered torture device can't broadcast a message for sixteen years. Rousseau says that it comes from somewhere else, but "they" control it now. She then asks about the woman in the pictures and Sayid tells her that she is named Nadia.
With a whoosh, Sayid flashes back to the time when duty forced him to torture Nadia. They banter about their childhood together- a childhood where Sayid ignored her and Nadia pushed him in the mud- you know, because they liked each other. Sayid brings up the impending torture, so Nadia shows him the scars of tortures past and tells him to bring it on because she will not tell him anything. In the present, Rousseau continues to learn about Sayid- he was a soldier and has a gunshot scar on his leg. He will answer nothing else about Nadia until she tells him who Alex is.
In Cavetown, Walt is bored so Michael tells him to find a way to entertain himself. I'll let my four-year-old handle the next side comment- that's exactly what Shrek says to Donkey. Good job, honey. A few feet away, Hurley is looking frantically for something in the baggage. He finds it and hurries off, even blowing off the almighty Jack. When Michael and Jack ask him what's up, he just giggles.
While we were away, Rousseau sidestepped the Alex question and got back to interrogating Sayid. This time he reveals that Nadia is dead because of him. Roussaeu strokes his face and tells him she is sorry. Then she gets up to show him something.
One more time back to the caves- Michael is showing Jack his blueprint for a shower system at the waterfall when Charlie comes by and tells them to come see what Hurley has done. The three head over to an open hilltop to find that Hurley has constructed a two hole golf course and has the clubs they can play with in hand. Jack and Michael are dismayed that he would waste his time like this, so Hurley gives his longest speech of the show. I don't do this often but in honor of the big guy showing some initiative for a cause, here is a transcript:
Hurley: Dudes, listen. Our lives suck! Everyone's nerves are stretched to the max- I mean, we're LOST on an island- runnin' from boars and monsters...and freakin' polar bears!
Michael: Polar bears???
Charlie: You didn't hear about the polar bear?
Hurley: Look, all I'm sayin' is, if we're stuck here, then just surviving is not gonna cut it. We need some kinda relief, ya know, some way that we can...you know, have fun. That's right, fun! Or else we're just gonna go crazy waiting for the next bad thing to happen.
Turns out, Rousseau wanted to show Sayid a broken music box. Stuck on an island for sixteen years, there's not much to bring for Show and Tell. It was an anniversary gift from her love, Robert. Sayid offers to fix it since he is handy with that kind of stuff. Rousseau, instead of freeing his hands, sticks an ancient syringe in his arm while she asks about the writing on the back of his photo.
We return to Jack and Michael who are face to face discussing a problem. If you don't know that the camera will pull back to show that they were talking about golf, then you just don't watch enough television. Sure enough, Jack asks for a 7 Iron. Before he can swing, the guy with the rash approaches to complain about his hives again, but he stops when he notices the clubs. He asks if he can play too.
Sayid wakes up yet again, this time chained by the legs to a table. In exchange for working on the music box, Sayid learns that the woman's name is Danielle. Finally with the subject turned toward her, Sayid gets some information. She is a research scientist who came to be shipwrecked on the island because their equipment malfunctioned. Sayid presses her about the transmission saying "it killed them all". Danielle says they were coming back from the black rock and they, "the others", were the carriers. Sayid asks about them and learns thatDanielle has never seen them, only heard them whispering. Sayid looks skeptical, causing Danielle to think that he thinks she is insane. He really thinks she has been alone too long.
Back in Iraq, Sayid brings Nadia some food and asks her to implicate others so she may go free, but she won't do it. She says that he is pretending to be something she knows he is not.
At the beach, word has spread quickly about Hurley's golf course, so Boone, Shannon, Kate and a bunch of excited extras are getting ready to head over. Kate is stopped by Sawyer's mocking of Jack, so she tells him to make more of an effort with people.
Sayid gets the music box working, which pleases his captor greatly. He asks to be let go, but she tells him it is too dangerous. To prove her point, they hear some roaring. Danielle grabs a gun and heads off. Sayid tells her to watch out for the monster, but she scoffs at him. After all, there's no such thing as monsters. In another flashback, Sayid is stunned to learn that Nadia is to be executed to set an example to the other captives who won't cooperate. Worse still, Sayid is the one who has to do it.
I probably should have mentioned that when he gave the music box back, Sayid swiped the key to his chains. That's important since he frees himself as soon as Danielle is gone. He gathers up her maps and a rifle and heads up the ladder and out the door. One thing he did forget was his picture of Nadia. He sees Danielle out there hunting and for some reason decides to confront her. He points his rifle and tells her to drop her gun. She does not comply, but instead raises her own weapon and points it at Sayid.
Sayid flashes back to execution time. He dismisses the other officers and takes Nadia to the door where he tells her she can escape in a supply truck. She begs him to come, but he can't because he is not as brave as she is. She then writes that note on the back of the picture. Before she can get out the door, they are busted by Sayid's friend- the superior officer, so Sayid shoots him dead and then shoots himself in the leg to set up the apperance of Nadia escaping on her own.
Back at the standoff, Sayid rashly pulls the trigger but unfortunately for him, the firing pin has been removed. Robert didn't notice it was missing either...when she shot him, Danielle says. She goes on to reveal that she killed every one in her party because they all got sick and she couldn't let the disease spread to the rest of the world if they had ever been rescued. Sayid drops his useless gun and says he is not sick. Why kill him? Danielle just wants him to stick around to have someone to talk to. Sayid chooses this moment to finally translate the note on the picture- You'll find me in the next life, if not this one. He too knows what it is like to ruin your life holding onto someone who is gone. This somehow convinces Danielle to let him go, but not without a warning to watch his friends closely. She walks off into the jungle, but turns back to answer Sayid's last question- Alex was her child.
Everyone is having a good time now as the golf games continue. Wagers are made on Jack's potential match winning shot, including one from Sawyer, who has heeded Kate's advice to make an effort. Everyone looks wary of him, but Kate gets the ball rolling by taking his bet and the tensions fade again. We don't get to see if Jack makes his putt or not, though. Elsewhere, Locke is practicing his knife throwing when he is approached by Walt, who asks to be taught how to throw. In one final chilling scene, Sayid tramps through the darkened jungle, surrounded by howling winds and...whispering? Could Danielle be right about the others? No answers today, folks. Our time is up...
You can't tell from this journal, but there are actually two television shows I am obsessed with. Comedy does not fill my television nights the way it used to- I know it's been a pretty sad season when a) Last Sunday I watched the first episode of the Simpsons ever where I did not laugh one single time and b) I have a month of King of Queens eps on DVR that I haven't gotten around to watching yet. But hope came at Christmas time when I received exactly what I asked for- the complete first season of Arrested Development on DVD.
Not since The Simpsons in its prime has there been a show with such a rewatchability factor. AD dumbs nothing down, it rewards a keen eye and it is simply fabulously written. I have now seen each episode at least twice and I know I will watch them again and again as each viewing lets one catch something they didn't see or hear before. Every installment either sets things up for the future or refers back to previous episodes either directly, indirectly, or with just a prop in the background. This show takes the Simpsons freeze-frame gags to the next level.
I think part of the fun is that the show makes you feel like you're in on a gag the rest of the world doesn't get. That could be because of the show's unpopularity, but more so it's because of the "reward" writing I mentioned earlier. You can watch an episode straight through without knowing the show and you will find it funny. But when you have the entire storyline down and know the hows and whys of every character, it adds layer upon layer of enjoyment to each viewing. I can't tell you how many times I noticed something I hadn't noticed before or how many times I had to rewind because I wanted to make sure I didn't miss a joke. (Pretty much every line is a joke of some kind. I swear.) The show is brilliant and I am on my knees begging you to buy the DVD, get caught up, and then start watching Sundays at 8:30 on FOX. You won't be sorry, and you just might keep a classic gem from being cancelled prematurely.
Here's what I like this week, which isn't much different than what I liked last week:
1. Walking With a Ghost- Tegan & Sara- AOL Music: Tegan & Sara: 'Walking with a Ghos...
2. Mr. Brightside- The Killers- AOL Music: The Killers: 'Mr. Brightside'
3. New Slang- The Shins
4. Breakin'- The Music- AOL Music: The Music: 'Breakin' '
5. Blood Red Summer- Coheed & Cambria- AOL Music: Coheed and Cambria: 'Blood Red Summ...
6. The Dark of the Matinee- Franz Ferdinand- AOL Music: Franz Ferdinand: 'Dark Of The Matin...
7. I'm Not Okay (I Promise)- My Chemical Romance- AOL Music: My Chemical Romance: 'I'm Not Okay...
8. Finding Out True Love is Blind- Louis XIV
9. I Predict A Riot- Kaiser Chiefs
10. Slow Hands- Interpol
Previously on LOST: That whole Ethan and Claire thing happened.
This week's eyeball belongs to Michael, who is searching the jungle for his son. A-Story quickly runs into B-Story when he finds Charlie looking for Claire's bags. They get nothing out of each other so Michael moves onto Jack, who wants to get an early jump on talking to everyone on the island this week. He hasn't seen Walt either. Michael asks him if he listened to his father when he was ten and Jack replies that he may have listened a little too well. A boy is missing and still these people think only of themselves. Boo hoo, I can't find Claire's clothes to smell. Boo hoo, my dad was a jerk. Anyway, Hurley makes his Kramer-like entrance with a "Yo, dudes!" that would have brought the house down had their been a studio audience. He is having a golf match (winner gets the last deodorant) but the men have already forgotten the lesson he taught them about lightening up and they blow him off. Michael goes off and Hurley comments that the guy really hates being a dad.
Michael continues the search and flashes back to ten years ago when he and Walt's mom were shopping for baby furniture. Everything he wants is expensive, but not to worry- he is giving up his art for some construction work while she finishes law school. He then casually drops in how he wants the boy's name to be Walt, after his father. She, in turn, reveals that she wants the boy to have her last name. Michael speculates that this is why she won't marry him. The mood is light, but the heavy groundwork for trouble has been laid.
Ten years later, Walter Lloyd is being taught how to throw a knife by Locke and his new best buddy, Boone. He is not doing too well until Locke tells him to picture it in his mind's eye. The next throw is perfect, but the celebration is short-lived because Michael catches them at it and sends Walt back to camp. Michael reacts with dismay and horror and even goes so far as to brandish the knife in Locke's face. Now a loyal Locke subject, Boone attacks and things look like they could get ugly. Locke calms everyone down and tells Michael that Walt likes him best because he treats him like an adult and realizes his potential. Michael doesn't seem to care about potential, he just wants Locke to stay away from him and his boy. Cue creepy LOST title screen.
You know the episode is loaded when they return from commercials in mid-flashback. Poor Michael's happy world is collapsing around him. Baby Walt's mom has accepted an international law job in Amsterdam without consulting him and furthermore, she is taking her son with her. Since they are not married and he is not steadily employed, there is nothing he can do about it. Cherry on top- she wants to break up.
Back to reality- Michael watches his son sleep and is approached by Sun. Jin must be fast asleep because she asks him if he is okay in English. He is feeling a little down about his lack of connection with Walt and resolves that the boy cannot grow up on Crazy Island.
The next day, Sayid is blah blah blabbering about the maps again to Shannon and Jack. Putting them together makes a triangle, which Sayid thinks could be the power source. Michael comes along and mocks them about settling down there and suggests that they build a raft. The cool kids think this is a pretty dumb idea, but Mike is undeterred- he will build it by himself. Elsewhere, Walt is entertaining himself by looking at the Spanish comic book again. Michael asks for his help, but pauses momentarily when he realizes that his son might have an interest in art. Walt continues to ignore him, however, so Michael gets frustrated and re-focuses on getting the boat started.
Michael then flashes back to a streetside call from a pay phone, where things have gone from "Tough Break" to "God Hates You" in an awful hurry. First, Mom won't even put the baby on the phone to hear Dad's voice- then she is forced to admit that she has been seeing someone else- the guy who hired her. This is all too much for Michael, who resolves to come to Amsterdam to fight for his son. Unfortunately, before he can make it five steps, he gets run over by a speeding car. Quick aside here- how come when Will Ferrell gets run over in Elf, it's hilarious, but when it happens on LOST, it's horrifying and disturbing? It's the same scene- what's different? Mood and tone, I suppose.
On the beach, Charlie finds out that Kate moved Claire's bags but he still can't find her diary. They immediately and correctly assume that Sawyer took it. Sawyer seizes this chance to mock and taunt Charlie over what Claire wrote about him. They each get a punch in before Kate breaks it up and gets Sawyer to admit that he really didn't read the thing. Elsewhere, Walt is bored helping his dad so when he spots Locke and Boone, he excuses himself to go and get some water.
Locke and Boone arrive back at camp where Boone is confronted by his sister about them coming back empty-handed yet again. She suggests that they help Michael build the raft, but having drank Locke's Kool-aid and being free of his sister's burden now, he not-so-politely refuses. Walt approaches Locke, but is told to respect and obey his father's wishes. Unfortunately, Michael catches them together and flips out. He does not want to hear Walt's explanation or Locke's feeble "giving him a pencil for you" cover-up. He tells Locke that if he catches him with Walt again, he'll kill him. Kill Locke, that is. I hope you got that without my explanation. Locke walks away and Walt calls his dad a jerk, asking where he's been his whole life. Michael reacts with anger and demands to be obeyed. He takes the comic book and chucks it into the fire.
Michael watches the page with the polar bear on it burn and thinks back to his stay in the hospital where things went from "God Hates You" to "God Hates You and Amuses Himself by Repeatedly Kicking You in the Groin". A nurse watches him draw a picture for his son and suggests that he should put in a lame penguin joke since he doesn't know what to write. What's black and white and red all over? A penguin with a sunburn. Oh, how I long for the sophisticated humor of Hurley needing someone to pee on his foot! Anyway, Walt's mom stops by without even having the decency to bring the kid. The good news is, she's paying for Michael's hospital stay. The bad news is, she's doing it out of guilt because she is marrying Brian and he wants to adopt Walt. Michael wakes from this happy memory to be told by Hurley that Walt has run off.
Michael makes his way over to Suspect #1- Locke, only to learn that Walt is not there. Locke, never the kind to hold a grudge, suggests that they go look for him. Michael, now aware that Locke was respecting the man's wishes earlier by telling the kid to buzz off, reluctantly accepts the help.
Back in Cavetown, Charlie thanks Kate for her help with Sawyer and they share a little heart to heart. Charlie is so enamored with Claire now, (absence makes the heart grow fonder) that he doesn't even care that Kate touched his leg when she got up. After she's gone, Charlie humorously struggles with the temptation to read Claire's diary and finally has to hide it and walk off.
In the jungle, Walt is walking along peacefully until Vincent the dog begins barking furiously at a disturbance in the brush. The leash breaks and Vincent runs off. As Walt gives chase, he flashes back to the time when he was living in Australia with Mom and Brian. He would like them to pay attention to his bird project, but the adults are too busy foreshadowing Mom's death to notice him. The tension of no one paying attention to Walt builds until it is broken by a bird slamming into the glass on the back door. Brian looks disturbed by the dead bird, but more disturbed by Walt, who just happens to be studying the exact same bird in his schoolbook. Back in the jungle, Walt calls for Vincent and looks frightened when he hears some non-doglike growling.
The flashbacks just keep on coming now as Michael is visited by Brian, who comes bearing the bad news of Susan's blood disorder and death. He tries to pull a fast one by telling Mike that Susan wanted Walt to be with his real father, but Michael knows a lowlife when he sees one and confirms that this is really Brian trying to unload the kid. Brian admits that he only loved Susan, not Walt. Plus, the kid is just downright creepy. Sometimes when he's around, things happen. (Could it be that he is Special?)
The search continues in the jungle- Michael finds the leash Walt dropped. They hear Walt cry for help and go running toward his voice. Michael flashes back one more time, this time to his first encounter with his son in ten years. The nanny gives Michael the box of secrets he was seen looking into last week. He looks through it sadly, then steps outside to meet Walt.
Back in the jungle, Walt is hiding inside a cluster of trees while a polar bear paws at him. Locke stops Michael from yelling and points to a nearby tree they can climb to get a better view of the mauling. Michael allows himself to be led because he is too busy thinking back to that awkward reunion again. Michael kindly covers for Brian by saying that it was Michael's own idea to take the boy home with him. As payback, when he finds out that Vincent belongs to Brian, he allows Walt to take him anyway.
Back to where the action is, Michael and Locke are precariously walking across a branch to get directly above Walt. Michael, coming full circle in his position on knives, drops one down to his son for protection. Locke then grabs some vines and Michael climbs down to get Walt. Michael secures his son in the vines and Locke hoists the boy up. Just before a commercial break, the bear strikes harder and closer and Mike looks like a goner.
My wife thinks this is a terrible ending, but I remind her about the extra three or four minutes. During this overrun, Michael stabs Polar Bear Part 2 and it runs away. Walt apologizes but Michael is just glad he is safe. When Walt expresses concern that Vincent ran off, Locke reminds him that the dog came back once and will do it again. Michael and Locke smile and nod at each other like two mental patients passing in the hall.
Night has fallen and Michael comes over to his son to finally give to him the contents of the box of mysteries. It's every letter, card, and drawing he ever sent but Walt never got because of his mom's strange and unfounded anti-dad agenda. Mike points out that while she didn't let Walt see them, she also didn't throw them away. Walt doesn't care for the penguin joke either.
Elsewhere, Charlie has given in and is happily reading Claire's private innermost thoughts. He is especially happy to see that she really likes him because he is adorable and sweet. His mood changes when he realizes that Claire had a dream about a black rock just like Sayid talked about Rousseau mentioning. He brings this to Jack and Sayid's attention, even if it earns him a rep as a bloody scum diary-reader. Charlie and Sayid speculate that the black rock could be where Claire was taken, but Jack dismisses the notion of running out into the dark jungle at night to find her.
He's barely done saying how foolish that is before we see Locke and Boone out looking for Vincent with Locke's makeshift dog whistle. *ALERT* Seemingly Throwaway Dialogue, but Probably Not Really....
Boone: I don't think that whistle is working, John.
Locke: You can't hear everything, Boone. The sooner you learn that, the better.
Anyway, they hear some rustling in front of them and it doesn't look like a dog...it's bigger...it looks human...it's ....
CLAIRE! Claire is back, looking a little worse for wear, but okay enough to walk. Too dark to tell if she is still pregnant, though. Fade out to the title screen...
Next week on LOST: a repeat of Episode 9: Solitary which, if it has to be a repeat, at least it's one of the two I haven't written up yet.
Previously on LOST: Locke and Boone had a lot of scenes together.
Tonight we begin with the customary eyeball shot as Boone watches his sister being approached by Sayid. He doesn't look too happy about this. The focus shifts to Sayid who is bringing Shannon a present for helping him translate Rousseau's maps. The present, by the way, is a pair of shoes, complete with box. When he met The Others, they must have had a Lady Foot Locker. Boone is distracted from his leering by Hurley who would like to know why he and Locke are out "hunting boar" every day but never bringing anything back. Boone insists that they are hunting. Hurley insists that they try harder since people gotta eat.
After he goes back to watching Sayid lay the Middle Eastern charm on Shannon, Boone flashes back to his former country club lifestyle, where he played tennis in the sunshine with beautiful women. He answers his cell phone- on the other end is a very distressed sounding Shannon. She tells him that things aren't so good and starts arguing with a man on the other end. Boone, always the hero, says he will come and get her. One guess where she is- if you said, Sydney, Australia- you win.
Back in the present, Boone gives Sayid a "friendly suggestion" to stay away from his sister. Before Boone can give an answer to "What if I don't?", Locke summons him back into the magical jungle. Moments later, as they are walking, Locke tells his young friend to put aside his differences with Sayid. They are going to want him on their side. Boone doesn't think to ask on their side of what. Instead, he brings up the fact that people are talking and noticing that they bring nothing back. Locke dismisses this- there is plenty of other food and what they are doing is more important. Then he uncovers the brush from their new top priority- the metal hatch they have dug up. Cue creepy LOST title screen.
Elsewhere in the jungle, Hurley confides to Jack that he is having some digestive problems. On a fruit-only diet, we can imagine what those problems might be. Jack suggests more protein- like the fish that Jin has been catching. This brings Hurley to his other problem- he feels that Jin was offended by Hurley's rejection of the sea urchin Happy Meal back on Day 1and has made no further offers of fish or even made eye contact. The conversation ends when the digestive matters become more urgent on Hurley's end and he disappears into the jungle with his handful of leaves.
Jack then turns his attention to spying on Kate, who of course, is being very shady about what she is up to as she crouches low to the ground collecting something. She busts him and reveals that she is collecting passion fruit seeds. He agrees to follow her to see what they are for. Kate leads him to a small clearing where Sun has started a garden. Jack congratulates her on a good idea, especially since Locke is no longer providing boar. Kate speculates that Locke is doing that on purpose.
Deeper in the jungle, Boone ponders how to get the hatch open, as it is seriously sealed. When he asks Locke why he is just sitting there mixing something in a bowl, Locke responds with a story about Michelangelo's work habit of just staring at a block of marble for months until he was ready to carve it. He says that is what they have to do with their hatch problem- work it out in their heads first. As Locke continues to ponder the question of how to open a hatch with no discernible handle, Boone flashes back to his arrival at Shannon's front door in Sydney. Unfortunately for him, she has changed her story and tells him to come back tomorrow because she and her man are going out with friends. No one brings up the large bruise on her forehead. Boone glares at them both and leaves quietly.
Back at a more remote beach location than we normally see, Hurley begs Jin, who is making his triumphant return to television, to tell him where he gets his fish from. If Jin is not going to give him any, he at least wants to get some on his own. Jin says something in Korean and walks away. Hurley speculates that it was mean.
Walking back from the hatch, Boone says that they have to tell everyone about their find. Locke disagrees, saying that the others are not ready and wouldn't understand. Boone at least wants to tell his sister. Locke disagrees again, but the young man is quite insistent. After Locke makes sure Boone is aware of the ramifications, he knocks him out with the handle of his knife.
Boone awakens to find himself tied up and begins to plead with Locke to untie him. Locke explains that he is doing all this because it is time for Boone to let go of some things. He takes the contents of his bowl from earlier and spreads it over the wound he created on Boone's head. Then he tosses a knife at his feet and says he can leave any time he wants as soon as he has the proper motivation. Boone shouts for him, but Locke has left. As the camera swirls around him, Boone tries his best to stretch himself within the confines of the ropes and reach the knife.
Boone distracts himself from his own cries for help by thinking back to his visit to a police station in Sydney. He is trying to get Shannon's boyfriend arrested for abuse but there is really nothing to go on. Sawyer has a brief cameo here as he is dragged into a cell screaming that no one wants to hear his side of the story. The officer questions why Boone and Shannon have different last names- it's because they are step siblings- not even related by blood, which makes it even more impossible for the police to do anything with Boone's complaint. Boone tries to get help by dropping his mother's name, but only gets mocked for it. Boone's next move is to visit Brian at the docks where he pays the man off to sever ties with his sister forever. His love is worth $50,000, which Boone promptly cuts him a check for.
Back over in the new garden, Kate is telling Sun about the (probably fake) plans she had for herself until fate got in the way. Sun's smile at Kate's ironic comment quickly turns to dismay when Kate puts it all together and realizes that Sun can understand English. All Sun can come up with is, "Please don't tell anyone".
In shallow water, Hurley and Jin are fishing near each other but not together, one having much more success than the other. Just as Hurley concedes defeat, he steps on a sea urchin and cries in pain from the sting. Jin comes to his aid but stops short at peeing on the big man's foot, even going so far as to shout "No!" which draws a quizzical look from Hurley.
Elsewhere, at an undisclosed jungle location, Sayid is trying his best to coordinate himself on Roussaeu's maps but seems to be having little success. He is startled by Locke, who unconvincingly tells him that Boone gave him the day off. Locke takes an interest in what Sayid is doing and gives him a compass, which heclaims to not need anymore.
All that flashing back with film-like accuracy has caused Boone to fall asleep, but his rest is short lived when he hears Shannon screaming for help. She is also tied up apparently. The trees begin to tremble and roars are heard as GIM (Giant Invisible Monster) makes his presence known. At last properly motivated, Boone struggles to stretch himself out and grasp the knife. He cuts himself free, runs over to cut his sister free and then they duck for cover in some brush as GIM gets louder and draws ever closer.
In a calmer part of the jungle, Sayid presents an interesting phenomenon to Jack. The island is apparently not obeying universal laws of nature since the compass points to North in the wrong direction. Either that or, you know, the compass might be broken. Sayid suggests this, which seems to put some doubt about Locke into Jack's mind.
While we're on the subject of Locke bashing, things have quieted down for Boone and Shannon giving Shannon the opening to ask what Boone did to piss the guy off. She doesn't believe that he would tie her up in the jungle out of boredom. Boone flashes back to his second arrival at Shannon's door- he is ready to take her away from all this. But when Shannon stays rooted in place next to Brian and can't even look her step-brother in the eye, Boone finally realizes that he has been set up. Brian helpfully reveals that Shannon feels screwed out of an inheritance Boone's mom kept for herself. Boone loses his temper and receives a beat down from Brian until Shannon puts a stop to it and lets Boone walk out with just a bloody nose.
Jack finds Locke sitting on the beach watching for ships and sits down to chat with him. Their conversation doesn't delve too deep other than Locke fearing that the boars are migrating away from their new human predators. Elsewhere, Kate agrees to keep Sun's secret, though she cannot understand why Sun wants it that way. Because she loves her husband is the answer. Wasn't it obvious, Kate? You must feel dumb now!
At the beach, Hurley tries to trick Jin into confirming the rumor that he can speak English by telling him his wife is hot, but either Jin is extremely disciplined about his deception or he really just doesn't. Hurley then gets a second chance at sea urchin, but spits it out. Over at the crash site, Jack has moved on to talk to Charlie about how's he doing and what he thinks of Locke. Charlie reveals his first impression that the guy was a psycho, but goes on to say how he saved his life and that Locke could be the one man on the island to save them all.
Over in Cavetown, Hurley returns to find Michael looking into a box of secrets and happily watching his son play with Vincent. Jin brings the big man a fish as an apparent peace offering, then heads over to the falls to be with his wife. Also, Jack has teleported over to hand Kate some guava seeds. There was no importance to this exchange- I just wanted to point out that Jack is the real mystery of this island because he can be anywhere and talk to anyone regardless of continuity. Must have gone to Hogwarts School of Medicine.
Boone and Shannon are now lost in the jungle and as they argue, Boone breaks down and tells her about the hatch. That's just bad island karma, my friend, because no sooner does he get done speaking when a tree behind them is uprooted with monstrous force. GIM is back and the siblings take off running. Unfortunately, Shannon is not quite fast enough and gets snatched off her feet as Boone looks on in horror.
As Boone frantically searches the jungle for his sister, he flashes back to when she showed up at his hotel room door to tell him that Brian took the money and ran. At least he didn't have to shoot a man while robbing his castle. Shannon speculates that Boone brought the money because he is really in love with her- an accusation he denies until she starts kissing him and kissing him and he starts kissing back and, this not being HBO and just a tad bit creepy anyway, we are faded out of the scene. In the very next scene, Shannon has sobered up and tells Boone that they'll go home and pretend that the whole night never happened. Back in the present, Boone finds blood on some rocks which leads him to find Shannon's mangled body on the edge of a stream. He holds her and cries when he realizes she is dead. We are down to the final 45.
I am glad I record until 9:05 EST because we are now into some serious overrun. Boone has returned to camp at night, brandishing a knife and charging toward Locke. Locke fights him off and asks where the blood isif Shannon really died in her brother's arms. Hurting Boone's case even more is the fact that Shannon is standing a few feet away chatting with Sayid at the waterfall. Boone rightfully wants to know what in the heck is going on. Locke asks "Is that what it made you see?" and Boone realizes that Locke may have drugged him with the goop on the head earlier. Locke spins it as an experience vital to Boone's survival. When Boone found his dead sister, the feeling he tearfully admits having was one of relief. Now, Locke says, Boone is ready to let go. And they walk off into the darkness of the jungle at night. Fade out. So I guess we're actually back up to 46 survivors with that classic cop-out twist.
Next week on LOST: Michael finally notices that Walt is still hanging out with Locke, while Walt learns that if you disobey your father, polar bears come after you.
The Top 10 took a few weeks off for the holidays but is back now, fully recharged. Nothing changed at the top- Tegan and Sara stay #1...how long can a catchy song with only three different lines in it hold on? Only time will tell.
1. Walking With a Ghost- Tegan & Sara-AOL Music: Tegan & Sara: 'Walking with a Ghos...
2. Mr. Brightside- The Killers- AOL Music: The Killers: 'Mr. Brightside'
3. Breakin'- The Music- AOL Music: The Music: 'Breakin' '
4. I'm Not Okay (I Promise)- My Chemical Romance- AOL Music: My Chemical Romance: 'I'm Not Okay...
5. Blood Red Summer- Coheed & Cambria- AOL Music: Coheed and Cambria: 'Blood Red Summ...
6. Boulevard of Broken Dreams- Green Day- AOL Music: Green Day: 'Boulevard of Broken Dre...
7. Finding Out True Love is Blind- Louis XIV
8. Stop the World- Riddlin' Kids- AOL Music: Riddlin' Kids: 'Stop the Worl...
9. This Photograph is Proof (I Know You Know)- Taking Back Sunday
10. Slow Hands- Interpol
This week, LOST makes its triumphant return to television, well, with new episodes anyway, and I make my triumphant return to my journal since I finally just finished my photomosaic puzzle. Word to the wise- if someone ever gives you a 1,000 piece puzzle where the picture is composed of a million tiny pictures that look like a big picture from far away- THROW IT BACK AT THEM. Throw it back at them and tell them to stick it somewhere. Use expletives if you have to.
On to the show- sorry about that tangent, it's been a while and I have to get used to focusing again. No opening eyeball this week- instead the camera is panning through the jungle searching for something. It finds Kate up in a tree collecting fruit. She climbs down, takes a swig of water and then heightens her senses when she hears some ominous piano music. You know, the pianist hits just the highest note a few times and then the lowest. Horror movies do it all the time. It creates a mood. Anyway, Kate obviously doesn't hear the piano, she hears something moving a few feet away from her. She throws a rock and hits Golden Globe nominee for Best Red Herring- Sawyer. She hit him right in the knee, which according to Quentin Tarantino, is very painful. Sawyer limps appropriately and finds out that Kate was alllll the way out here because every other tree has been picked clean by hungry people. For her part, Kate learns that Sawyer wasn't stalking her, but trying to protect her. How sweet.
They walk a little further and find a gorgeous waterfall. Sawyer strips down and invites Kate for a swim. This not being HBO, they strip only half way. Sawyer even kept his jeans on. The scene starts to take on a playful romantic quality until the writers remember what show they're working on and have to throw in the dead bodies under the water part. Cue creepy LOST title screen.
Sawyer asks Kate if she is all right- an odd question since these were plane crash victims and not Jason Voorhees waiting to grab his next teenager from the bottom of a lake. Sawyer goes down to see what the bodies have on them. Kate is initially disgusted by this, but then starts helping him. She seems especially interested in a metal briefcase underneath the seat. They pull it up, but it is pretty useless to them since they don't have the key. Still, Kate seems to want it pretty badly, but she plays it cool and lets Sawyer have it.
It's unfortunate after the tsunami tragedy that the next scene shows the survivors on the beach fleeing from large waves, but I'm sure shallow Americans would have been more upset if LOST had been preempted because of sensitivity issues. Anyway, everyone is trying to save their stuff from getting washed out to sea- Sayid says that the tide rising so quickly is not normal. After all the crazy nonsense they've been through, the beach eroding too fast is what gets Sayid's attention? Jack and Sayid resume the beach vs. cave argument- Sayid is still resistant to the idea, especially after Claire's disappearance. I suppose they've given up looking for her, which seems kind of harsh. Jack asks Sayid to take him to the French woman to ask about the others, but he doesn't like that idea either. He insists that the voices he heard was wind playing tricks. Wind that swept Claire away, I guess.
Elsewhere, Shannon asks Boone where he has been going with Locke all day everyday- she even asks if he is his new boyfriend. Now was that a sibling tease or a secret revealed? Boone tells her that they have been looking for Claire and that she, Shannon, is useless.
That night, Kate stirs the fire and watches Sawyer walk by with the metal briefcase. This triggers the evening's first flashback, where Kate is talking to a bank manager in New Mexico about a loan application. Things are going well until some masked gunmen storm in and hold the place up. Back to reality- Kate approaches the sleeping Sawyer very carefully and tries to take the case. The case- hey, this week's episode title is a pun! Gotta love it. Sawyer wasn't really sleeping, or at least he is used to being attacked while vulnerable, and manages to fend her off despite her best headbutts. Kate demands to have it and he, of course, says no. When she walks away, he looks pretty pleased about having some leverage over her.
Back at the beach, Shannon is trying to catch some sun before the beach completely erodes and is approached by Sayid just as she removes her top. This not being HBO, she sits up and covers herself with a towel. Sayid remembered that she speaks some French and would like some help translating Rousseau's math notations on the papers he swiped from her. Shannon says she can't do it, but he asks her to at least try. Elsewhere, Sawyer is trying in vain to pick the lock on the case- Michael and Hurley stop by to laugh at him so that they can have something to do this episode. Michael suggests he hit it with something hard- like the ax.
The question of where the ax is segues to Boone in the jungle bringing Locke said ax. Locke is acting strange this week- he seems a little overly concerned that someone might have seen Boone take it.
Back at the beach, Rose makes her triumphant return to television by telling the catatonic Charlie to get his butt in gear and help everyone move the stuff off the beach. She is having a hard time dragging a crucial piece of large jagged metal by herself.
Elsewhere, Saywer takes part in another first for LOST- the quick-cutting montage. It's a comical moment as he is having a very hard time breaking open that darn case. Finally, he drops it out of a nearby tree and Kate seizes the oppurtunity to grab it and run off. Everybody knows that boys run faster than girls so Sawyer is able to get down the tree and catch up to her before the scene even ends. Kate goes to the headbutt again, but still can't get the case out of his manly grasp. He offers it up in exchange for the knowledge of what's inside, but Kate doesn't answer. After he walks off, she flashes back to the bank where the ringleader of the bank robbers is trying to get the manager to open up the vault. The guy on the floor next to Kate tries to play the hero by jumping one of the robbers. A gun falls in front of Kate- the hero begs Kate to shoot everyone but she doesn't know how to operate a gun and the day ends up not being saved. Ringleader pulls Kate angrily into a back room, tells her that playing dumb was a classic move and kisses her with passion. I, myself, would have been more relieved that the gun hadn't landed in front of someone who wasn't in on it.
You know the VW commercial where the guy shoves the salesman down in his seat so he can impress an ex? She watches him drive off so wouldn't she see the dealer plates and know he was BSing her? These are the things that bother me. Plus I don't think any of my exes would be impressed if they saw me tooling around in a VW- test drive a Honda or something next time.
In cavetown, Kate approaches Jack about getting the briefcase back. She tells him that he is the only one who knows about her. Hurley knows too, but I guess that's not important. Plus Sun knows now, because they are speaking in front of her and don't realize that she understands English. The key problem here (I can make puns too) is that the key is in the marshall's wallet. Yes, as in the dead and buried marshall. The contents of the case sound pretty uninteresting (guns and money), so Jack demands to know what else is in there and only agrees to help her if they get to open the case together.
The evacuation of the beach continues- Charlie wonders why Rose is so happy when there are so many things to be worried about. Monster, The Others. Maybe he was just listing his favorite movies. Out of nowhere, Rose tells him that nobody blames him for what happened to Claire. Charlie speculates that he should have died. Rose puts a hand on his shoulder and tells him that he needs to ask for help.
In case you don't know what Rose was implying just then, the scene jumps to a shot of a wooden cross standing guard over the marshall's burial site. As the digging begins, Kate thinks back to the bank when she forced her boyfriend to smack her and bloody her up to keep up appearances. He calls her Maggie- their relationship is obviously built on trust. They leave the back room and get into character- Kate's life is very seriously threatened until the manager agrees to hand over the key.
Getting keys and unearthing decomposing bodies are the themes of this week's adventure so we cut to a shot of what's left of the marshall. Nice work by the make-up crew because I don't even recognize him. Kate dives in to get the wallet and finds it to be quite maggot-infested. What a pleasant episode this is. Jack picks it back up and digs through it to find no key. He is not fooled, however. He grabs Kate's wrist and forces her to open her fist and reveal that she hadalready grabbed it- their relationship is obviously built on trust.
Elsewhere, Shannon is translating the notes but they make little sense in any language. "The sea of silver sparkles"- Rousseau might be crazy but she sure knows alliteration. Both get increasingly frustrated- Shannon because the nonsense is just repeating itself and Sayid because he's clearly trying to use a blonde's brain.
At Sawyer's tent, Jack tells the rat to hand over the case, or else...or else you won't get your meds and I'll have to cut your arm off when the scab gets itchy, yeah that's it. Sawyer agrees but not before doing the "hold on to the thing a little longer as your rival tries to take it" move. That move is in the cinematic dictionary, I swear. Sawyer uses it to give a warning that Kate is a little liar. I think we all know that by now.
Jack brings the case to Kate and she flashes back to the bank vault where things get a little crazy. The manager pleads to have the girl released, but the ringleader laughs that off and tells him that she is in on it. He makes to kill the manager but Kate grabs a gun off the other guy and shoots her boyfriend in the leg. Things really break down and she is forced to shoot all of her accomplices. She really didn't want the bank's money at all, she just needed to get into safety deposit box 815, which holds...drumroll...an envelope! Wow!
Back in the cave, Jack opens the case where he finds the guns, finds the money and finds....drumroll...an envelope! Wow! Jack seems a little let down about the whole thing. The way she was acting, you would think the case had some Get Out of Jail Free cards in it. But no, it's just an envelope. But surely, you say, the envelope must have something really important in it! Like a fifteen dollar check for coming in second in a beauty pageant...but you are wrong again. It is just a toy airplane. But surely, you say, the plane must have some significance that Kate would lie, cheat and steal to get her hands on it. Why yes, it belonged to the man she killed! Nice to finally know what Kate did, but it's still just a toy plane. There must be more of this to come... but not today. Good old sensitive Jack walks away from her as she bawls her eyes out. He's that disgusted with her! A toy plane, for God's sake!
As the sun rises, or sets or something, the beach people move up the beach by moving sideways. Oh, it was setting because it's night now and Charlie has come to talk to Rose about her husband. This opens the door for her to spout that crazy "still alive" stuff she likes to go on and on about whenever she sneaks her way into the occassional episode. Talk about an agenda. Anyway, she knows he is alive because of faith, not denial. This brings Charles to tears and mistaking this for another Locke type deal, he asks Rose to help him. She puts an arm around him, takes his hand and they begin to pray. Elsewhere, Shannon approaches Sayid to apologize for being blonde and to say she realizes why Rousseau's nonsense seemed so familiar to her. It is a song, featured in some computer-animated cartoon about fish. Rousseau must have a DVD player in her shack too since she's been on the island well before Finding Nemo and well before computer-animated cartoons, for that matter. Shannon begins to sing it in French, which brings us to the more customary slow-cutting montage with a song playing over it. Boone creepily watches his sister singing, Jack looks over at Kate as he walks by, Kate stares at her recovered toy plane and moves it around between her fingers. Fade out...
Next week on LOST: Boone is all like, "Stay away from my sister" and Sayid is all like, "What if I don't" and it all builds to a big climax at the prom. Plus, the message boards explode with Told You So's from the many Locke is Evil factions when Johnny boy whacks Boone with his knife handle for even suggesting that they tell everyone what they found.
